Pastor training in Romania brings in hundreds

Romania (MNN) – Global Advance’s David Shibley was recently in Romania, equipping and empowering the Christian leaders there for the Great Commission.

Conference for Pastors

Over 250 pastors and wives gathered from across Romania for a Global Advance FrontLine Pastors Conference.(Photo/Caption Courtesy of Global Advance via Facebook)

In partnership with the Bible League of Romania, Shibley and his wife, along with a couple of others, hosted a pastors training conference and a church planters training conference on the Black Sea.

The conference wasn’t just for learning. It was also meant to be a time of encouragement. The conference was attended by over 250 Romanian pastors and their wives.

In fact, the conference was so well received that on the last day, Shibley received a note from an attendee that said, ‘If heaven is anything like the fellowship we have here, it will be perfect for me.’

For many of these pastors, they’re bi-vocational. They work multiple jobs to support their families while also caring for a congregation. Yet, despite this, these pastors and church planters are still committed to the advancement of the Gospel.

“I’m very confident that missionaries are going to go from Romania as a result of this conference. They’ll be raised up by the churches represented there by the pastors, and that new churches will be planted,” Global Advance’s David Shibley shares.

Gospel Opportunity in Romania

So, what’s changed? The decline of persecution in the country.

“They don’t face the persecution that they faced of the last seventy, and to some degree, over the last eighty years. And now, they’re in this tremendous season of opportunity,” Shibley explains.

However, they’re facing other challenges instead. For example, these pastors and their churches need new and updated scripture translations.

And, despite the economy in Romania being stronger than it used to be, it’s still not particularly great. Pastors, church planters, and churches themselves still need financial help.

Another challenge is that Christians are also ministering in a strong Orthodox culture. Less than ten percent of the population in Romania are of evangelical persuasion. Still, these barriers aren’t dampening these Christian’s resolve to share the Gospel.

“ I think one of the great things that we need to be praying for, for our brothers and sisters there, is that they’ll simply be able to seize the day, that they’ll have the economic strength, that they’ll have the spiritual fortitude, and the clarity of vision to really make an impact for Christ, and strongly advance the Gospel in this great season,” Shibley says.

How to Help

Pray for these Christian leaders in Romania to be able to continue in unity and peace in Christ. Pray for them to be able to break through the challenges before them, particularly with the younger generation.

Also, pray for the small fires in Romania, which are burning for Christ, to be fed. And finally, pray for hearts to be opened to the Gospel and for the financial support they need to grow their ministries.

“I believe in many of these Eastern European countries, there’s a potential for a real resurgence of the Gospel…There is relative freedom for the advance of the Gospel without a great deal of opposition,” Shibley explains.

“Most of their opposition would be others who also name the name of Christ, but who are of a different ecclesiastical persuasion. Just as Paul said, brothers, pray for us that the word of the Lord would run swiftly and be glorified.”